THE ARMENIANAPOSTOLIC ORTHODOX CHURCH By Hratch Tchilingirian CONTENTS n History n The Faith of the ArmenianChurch n The Armenian Catholic Church n The Armenian Evangelical Church n Functional Structure of the ArmenianChurch n The Hierarchical Structure of the Church HISTORY The Church was founded by Jesus Christ (cf.

The dogmas of the ArmenianChurch are based on these "articles of faith." The ArmenianChurch belongs to the Orthodox family of churches, known as the Oriental Orthodox, or Non-Chalcedonian, Churches, i.e., the Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian and Indian Malabar churches.

Aram Keshishian, The Witness of the ArmenianChurch in a Diaspora Situation (New York: Prelacy of the ArmenianApostolicChurch, 1978), p.

The ArmenianChurch officially severed ties with the West in 554, during the second Council of Dvin where the dyophysite formula of the Council of Chalcedon was rejected.

The Armenianchurch instead adheres to the doctrine defined by Cyril of Alexandria, considered as a saint by the Chalcedonian churches as well, who described Christ as being of one nature, where both divine and human nature are united.

(The ArmenianApostolicChurch should not be confused, however, with the Armenian Catholic Church, which is an Eastern Rite Catholic church under the authority of the Pope in Rome.) At present, the Catholicos of All Armenians is his Holiness Karekin II (sometimes spelled as Garegin), who resides in the city of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan.

Since the establishment of the Diocese of the ArmenianChurch of America in 1898, when the venerable and beloved Khrimian Hayrig was Catholicos, all the ArmenianChurches in the United States and Canada were under the jurisdiction of the Diocesan Headquarters in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The Californian Diocese of the ArmenianChurch, presently called 'Western Diocese of the ArmenianChurch of North America,' was formally established by an Encyclical issued from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin by His Holiness Kevork V. Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, dated November 28, 1927.

Its establishment was the natural outcome of the continued vigorous growth of the Armenian population and the number of their churches in the Western States of the United States of America, and due to the distance separating the West from the Diocesan office in the East.

The ArmenianChurch also is one of the churches (together with the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Copts, Ethiopians and Syrians) which cooperates in the use and administration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem).

During the "Armenian Christmas" season, the major events that are celebrated are the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem and His Baptism in the River Jordan.

On the day before Armenian Christmas, January 17th, the Armenian Patriarch together with the clergy and the faithful, travels from Jerusalem to the city of Bethlehem, to the Church of Nativity of Christ, were elaborate and colorful ceremonies take place.

Outside, in the large square of the Church of Nativity, the Patriarch and his entourage are greeted by the Mayor of Bethlehem and City officials.

There are twenty Armenian Protestant churches, the majority of which adhere to the Evangelical Church; thirteen ArmenianApostolics (five under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of Antelias (Cilicia), eight under the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin); and two Armenian Catholic churches.

ApostolicChurch became the enduring symbol of the distinctive Armenian people and their land.

In building churches in the Diaspora, Armenians wanted to recall the ancient edifices in Armenia, yet those churches were adapted to the styles and realities of their new homes.

Holy Trinity ArmenianApostolicChurch was the first church built in the tradition of Armenianchurch architecture in the United States.

Although there are older churches in the United States used for Armenian services, these facilities either were existing church structures not built for Armenians, or built by Armenians with no reference to Armenianchurch architecture.

Armenianchurch architecture has long been recognized as the first church architecture to reflect a unique style, which was perfected in its various forms after the seventh century A.D. It is believed that this style and the method of construction influenced the later European Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

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The ArmenianChurch usually refers to the ArmenianApostolicChurch, named because of its establishment by two of the Apostles, Bartholomew and Thaddeus.

The Supreme Spiritual and Administrative leader of the ArmenianChurch is His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, who is the worldwide spiritual leader of the Nation, for Armenians both in Armenia and dispersed throughout the world.

The spiritual and administrative headquarters of the ArmenianChurch, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, located in the city of Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia, was established in 301 AD.

The ArmenianApostolicChurch, sometimes incorrectly called the Armenian Orthodox Church is the world's oldest national church and one of the original churches, having been founded in 301.

The ArmenianApostolicChurch has been around since the days of the apostles and therefore has a rightful claim to be one of the oldest denominations in Christianity.

(The ArmenianApostolicChurch should not be confused, however, with the Armenian Catholic Church, which is an Eastern Ritechurch under the authority of the Pope in Rome.) At present, the Catholicos of All Armenians is his Holiness Karekin II (sometimes spelled as Garegin), who resides in the city of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan.

The Church entered its most recent era of leadership on October 27, 1999, when ArmenianChristians elected His Holiness Karekin II as the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, pontiff of the worldwide ArmenianChurch.

Located near the capital of Yerevan in the Republic of Armenia, it is composed of (a) the Mother Cathedral of the entire ArmenianChurch; (b) a monastery and monastic brotherhood; (c) the residence of the Catholicos of All Armenians; and (d) various religious and cultural institutions, such as the Kevorkian Theological Seminary and a museum.

The renaissance of the Armenians at the start of the nineteenth century, after "the deep sleep of bondage and degradation," was possible only because the ArmenianChurch, the depository of patriotism and faith, had preserved the old culture.

The Western Prelacy of the ArmenianApostolicChurch is under the jurisdiction of the Catholicosate of the Holy See of the Great House of Cilicia, which was established in the coastal city of Antelias, Lebanon after the Armenian Genocide and the persecutions of the Armenians from their homeland in Armenia and Cilicia in 1915.

The oldest of the churches is the Holy Trinity Church in Fresno, which was founded in 1900 and is the first ArmenianApostolicChurch in the Western United States.

The Armenian Community is involved in all of the day-to-day religious, educational and spiritual activities of the Prelacy, churches and schools.

One of major Armenian medieval historians, Oukhtannes, reports that in the 5th century, in the Georgian town of Tsurtavi, there was an Armenian prelacy under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarch, led by a bishop called Movses.

The Armenian diocese in Georgia would like to remind the Government of Georgia that her requests are based on the needs of the Georgian citizens that are also members of the ArmenianApostolicchurch.

On the 25th of February, 1995, Georgian Patriarchy decided to christen the church according to Georgian Orthodox rite and a Georgian liturgy was held, to which the Armenianchurch objected by stating a protest.

The Marriage Sacrament in the ArmenianChurch is performed in accordance with the rites and canons of the ArmenianApostolicChurch.

The ArmenianApostolicChurch considers Churches as Christian and orthodox if they specifically confess the Divinity of the Holy Trinity, believe in the perfection and unity of the Divine and human natures of Christ and use the formula, "In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" during baptism.

It must be clear, however, that the participation of a non-Armenian Apostolic in the rite of the Marriage Sacrament of the ArmenianChurch does not result in automatic change in the confession of faith of the individual; nor does it grant him/her the right to participate in other sacraments of the ArmenianChurch.

In general, Armenian practices resemble those of other Eastern churches; the priests may marry and communion is distributed in both bread and wine, although the use of unleavened bread is a Western practice.

In the next century the young church made itself autonomous, apparently because of the efforts of the metropolitan bishop of Caesarea, St. Basil the Great, to impose certain reforms.

Part of the ArmenianChurch reunited with Rome temporarily in the 13th and 14th cent., and missionary work by the Roman Church in the 14th cent.

Mary ArmenianChurch is located in Livingston New Jersey, and is part of the Eastern Diocese of the ArmenianChurch of America, which itself is under the jurisdiction of the See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Catholicos of all-Armenians, His Holiness, KAREKIN II, the Supreme Patriarch.

The ArmenianChurch is an ancient apostolicchurch whose origins extend back to the preaching and ministry of Christ's apostles, Thaddeus and Bartholomew in the first century.

The ArmenianChurch is an Orthodox Church and is in Communion with the 5 Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian (Tewahdo) and Malankara (or The Syrian Orthodox in India).

Under canon law, the Catholicos has jurisdictional power, and responsibility, over all the ArmenianApostolic dioceses in the world; this is similar to the Pope in regard to the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church allows the Pope to unilaterally make binding declarations of faith (i.e., doctrine), whereas the ArmenianApostolicChurch, along with all other Orthodox Churches, view this to be the responsibility of true ecumenical councils.

Jesus Christ started the Church through the authority that He gave to His Apostles; Jesus told his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18:18).